The present invention relates to containers for disposable hospital sharps and waste, and pertains particularly to a secure disposable container assembly for disposition of hospital sharps, objects and wastes.
Hospitals and clinics use great quantities of sharps, such as needles, syringes, surgical blades, and the like, that are disposed of rather than cleaned and reused. It is necessary that the sharps be disposed of in a manner that prevents them being reused without sterilization. In particular, it is necessary to keep them from falling into the hands of those, such as drug users and the like, that are likely to use them without proper sterilization.
Numerous containers have been developed in recent years, which are reasonably secure and disposable for receiving and disposing of hospital sharps, wastes and the like. Many of these containers however do not provide adequate security against pilfering of used syringes and the like from such containers. While containers have been developed which cannot readily be reopened and articles cannot be easily removed therefrom, such containers must be kept in a secure place to prevent unauthorized removal.
It is essential that access openings into the containers be easy and convenient to use, yet prevent access thereto for removal of articles. This requires that the opening be adequate in size to receive the article, be conveniently located and that it has a suitable closure to prevent removal of articles. It is also necessary that the article be received into the container without undue action by the user. While many excellent closures exist, improvements are desirable.
In prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,385, of which I am co-inventor, we disclose a security mounting device for disposable containers. That device includes a metal mounting bracket, with a complex metal latching arrangement for securely latching a disposable container within a secured container housing. While that prior device is suitable for many applications, certain improvements are desirable.
It is, therefore, desirable that an improved securable disposable container assembly be provided.